DON’T FORGET YOUR GIFT

2 Timothy 1:6 

Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

Have you ever gotten a gift and then forgot about it?

• Maybe you put it in some closet, and forgot you had it
• Maybe it was Christmas time and, after the celebration, when you packed to go home, you forgot to bring it with you.
• I am notorious for forgetting who it was who gave me the gifts I have received 

Of course the whole idea of gift giving has become so much more a bigger thing than it was in Biblical days.

American commercialism has preyed upon the population to the extent that we feel cheated if 

• We do not get gifts on special days in our lives and
• We feel guilty if we do not give gifts to those who are special to us on their special days

I listened to a history program the other day on the history of “white weddings” – you know, the traditions behind the white wedding dress.

Although the subject isn’t one that demands my interest, as a preacher it seemed relevant to my avocation.

Did you know the whole reason diamond weddings rings are the thing is because sometime in the early 1900’s a huge stash of diamonds was found in Africa and jewelers saw an opportunity to market them as a wedding gift.

Previous to the last century diamond wedding rings were unheard of.

It all started with silver.

A merchant in the 1800’s successfully sold the public on the idea that giving silverware to the wedding couple would create for them an heirloom that would last from generation to generation.

Of course most people could not afford buy a whole set of silverware, so the idea of people joining together and buying one piece each for them was created.

Some people could not afford even the price of a fork or a spoon, so they created baby-sized forks and spoons to put in condiment dishes.

That worked well enough they created the concept of a separate spoon for the soup, and main dish and a separate fork for the salad and the main dish.

Those who made and sold fine china saw how successful the silverware people were and they began the same marketing campaign to weddings, with the same success.

Jewelers witnessed their success and used the exact same marketing strategy to get people to buy diamonds.

Then the greeting card companies jumped onboard and sold the American public, especially those who were upper and middle income, that the polite thing to do would be to acknowledge and thank all those who gave those gifts with a card.

Among those in the middle to upper incomes weddings average $30,000’s and couples receive more than 150 gifts.

And it was all created by a marketing strategy that exploited American consumerism.

You know the same thing is true with birthdays and Christmas.

There was a time when it wasn’t difficult to remember who gave you a gift because you didn’t get that many of them.

I said all of that just because I have to say something to introduce my lesson where Paul urged Timothy to remember his spiritual gift, and to stir it up.

2 Timothy 1:6 (KJV)

Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

Timothy had a gift. 

It wasn't a mere talent nor was it a skill. 

*It was something that 

• once he did not have, 
• was purchased by another and
• was imparted to him by someone else

Timothy's gift was, I believe, his calling into the ministry and his equipping for that ministry. 

Notice with me three things about Timothy’s gift:

*I. IT WAS A GIFT OF GOD

2 Timothy 1:6 (KJV)

Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

The ministry is not a vocational choice. 

Please don’t get the impression that Timothy and his parents sat down with Paul one day and interviewed him about the pros and cons of the Gospel occupation.

Timothy didn’t explore his career options and select preaching above maybe a half dozen others.

There was no aptitude test that Timothy could take that pointed him in the direction of being a preacher.

Though if a man desires it he desires a good work, yet, he ought not to enter into it without clear direction from God. 

Though we do not know, it was quite possible that Timothy supported himself through some other occupation.

He was a preacher because God chose and gifted him for that ministry.

However,

*II. IT WAS GIVEN BY PAUL’S HANDS

2 Timothy 1:6 (KJV)

Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

This is where the idea of ordination originates and I grieve that modern day preachers tend to view it as a formality rather than a spiritual operation. 

One could claim that this work of Paul involved his years training Timothy.

I do not doubt that. 

But it is more than that. 

It is reminiscent of Elisha's receiving Elijah's mantel.

Paul passed down: 

• knowledge and understanding
• experience and wisdom
• AND this gift of God

The point of the passage is that

*III. IT MUST BE STIRRED UP

2 Timothy 1:6 (KJV)

Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

The phrase means to re-kindle. 

The gift that God gave to Timothy through the instrument of Apostle Paul had to be maintained.

*Albert Barnes in his commentary says of this passage,

“However rich the gifts which God has bestowed upon us, they do not grow of their own accord, but need to be cultivated by our own personal care.”

In my head this is at least one justification to some sort of Bible college training for those called to the ministry.

• God gives the gift but
• The gift has to be cultivated and stirred up

*On a more practical level though, John Gill says that the gift,

“…may be re-inflamed or increased, when they seem on the decline, by reading, meditation, prayer, and the frequent exercise of them.”

Did you notice his four-fold plan for stirring up the gift of God?

• Reading
• Meditation
• Prayer and
• Frequent exercise of the gift

Conclusion

Every Christian, including those who are not called into pastoral ministry, has a gift of God. 

• That gift is developed through the ministry of preachers but 
• it requires our own personal maintenance. 

Don’t forget to stir up your spiritual gift.

WHEN YOU LOVE SOMEONE

2 Timothy 1:3-5 (KJV)

I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;

Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy;

When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

We’re continuing on with our series of lessons from 2 Timothy.

I believe Paul wrote this letter just after writing 1 Timothy. 

I am sure that he wrote it being fully aware that his days were few.

2 Timothy 4:6 (KJV)

For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.

Paul’s love for Timothy is clearly seen in

2 Timothy 1:2 (KJV)

To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

So it is not that surprising that Paul would begin this last letter to Timothy, his son in the faith, in an emotional way.

I. PAUL PRAYED FOR HIM

2 Timothy 1:3 (KJV)

I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;

There are any number of people I pray for regularly.

• I pray for the people of this church
• I pray for the members of my family (brothers and sisters)
• I pray for those preachers who will go to their pulpits today
• I pray for missionaries

I also pray for those who ask me to pray for them

I pray through the requests that people give us on Wednesday nights

There are a few people that I have purposed to pray for especially regularly

• A particular group of pastors
• A hand full of people who are especially important to me

But then there are certain ones that I don’t have to even purpose to pray for.

Bohannan and Caleb sometimes ask me to pray with them or for them, but they don’t really have to do that – I can’t help but pray for them.

They are always near my heart

• I can’t hear their voice
• I can’t see a picture of them
• I can’t listen to something they have done

Without it moving me to prayer for them.

Paul told Timothy that he prayed without ceasing for him.

That would be difficult to understand if Timothy was just a name in his prayer list.

But it’s not hard to understand at all, when you realize that Paul loved him.

The best thing you can do for someone you love is to pray (without ceasing) for them.

II. PAUL LONGED TO SEE HIM

2 Timothy 1:4 (KJV)

Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy;

I realize the dynamic is a bit different but see if this illustration doesn’t work:

Paul is the father in the faith, Timothy is the son in the faith.

The father longs to see the son. 

I am sure that Timothy loved Paul, but we do not find anywhere that Timothy longed to see Paul.

Every parent of adult children in this room knows what it feels like to long to see your kids.

• Their lives have taken them sometimes to far away places where we seldom get to see them
• Their responsibilities prevent them from coming to visit us as much as we would like for them to come

Our own constraints prohibit us from making as many trips to see them as we wished we could.

• Paul was in a prison cell
• Timothy was busy about his ministry

But Paul loved Timothy and greatly desired to see him.

A popular song when I was in high school was “Cats in the Cradle”

My child arrived just the other day
He came to the world in the usual way
But there were planes to catch and there were bills to pay
He learned to walk while I was away

And he was talking 'fore I knew it and as he grew
He'd say, "I'm gonna be like you, dad
You know, I'm gonna be like you"

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
"When you coming home, dad?" "I don't know when
We'll get together then, son, you know we'll have a good time then"

When my son turned ten just the other day
Said, "Thanks for the ball, dad, come on and let's play
Can you teach me to throw?" I said, "Not today
I got a lot to do" he said, "That's okay"

And he walked away but his smile never dimmed
Said, "I'm gonna be like him, yeah
You know, I'm gonna be like him"

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
"When you coming home, dad?" "I don't know when
We'll get together then, son, you know we'll have a good time then"

Well, he came from college just the other day
So much like a man I just had to say
"Son, I'm proud of you, can you sit for a while?"
He shook his head and he said with a smile

"What I'd really like, dad, is to borrow the car keys
See you later
Can I have them please?"

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
"When you coming home, son?" "I don't know when
But we'll get together then, dad, We're gonna have a good time then"

Well, I've long since retired and my son's moved away
Called him up just the other day
I said, "I'd like to see you if you don't mind"
He said, "I'd love to, dad, if I could find the time"

"You see, my new job's a hassle and the kid's got the flu
But it's sure nice talking to you, dad
It's been sure nice talking to you"

And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me
He'd grown up just like me
My boy was just like me

Yeah, and the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
"When you coming home, son?" "I don't know when
But we'll get together then, dad, we're gonna have a good time then"

When you love someone you take time with them.

III. PAUL REMEMBERED HIM

2 Timothy 1:5 (KJV)

When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

The phrase “call to remembrance” implies more than those memories that sort of fall upon us.

The phrase means that he seized his memories.

He forced the memory of Timothy into his head.

We have in our home, walls and walls filled with pictures of our kids and our grandkids.

Of course I can’t do it every time I walk down the hall, but I can tell you that I very often purposely take the time to look at every picture.

• I can remember the circumstances surrounding when they were taken
• I can remember what my kids were like at that stage in their life
• I can remember what Anita and I were doing and thinking during that time in our lives when the pictures were taken

I can, in some ways, visit with 10 year old Bohannan or 8 year old Caleb.

When you love someone to meditate upon them.

Conclusion

1 John 4:10 (KJV)

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Paul becomes here a type of God and His love for you and me:

He prays for us

Hebrews 7:25 (KJV)

Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

He longs to see and hear from us

Hebrews 4:16 (KJV)

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

He remembers us

Genesis 8:1

And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;

Genesis 19:29

And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.

Genesis 30:22

And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.

BLESSED IS THE NATION

Psalms 33:12 (KJV)

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.

A moment to discuss the differences in the Hebrews words translated “blessed.”

In the one case, which is our primary focus for the year, the Hebrew word is Asher and the derivatives of it. 

It is a word best defined as “happy.”

But there is another word that is often translated “blessed” that in Hebrew is Barak and the derivatives of it.

Its primary definition is “to kneel”. It often speaks of a salutation, invocation, and congratulations.

When you think of a person who is blessed, you probably don’t think of someone who is happy but of someone who is favored. 

Good things happen to them.

I think of myself as one of those “favored” people.

I don’t know why, but it seems to me that God has been especially kind to me.

• I was favored with the ability to do well in school
• I was favored with a great trade right after school
• I was favored to meet and marry a wife who has loved me and been supportive of me
• I was favored to have heard the Gospel and gotten saved
• I was favored that my wife too trusted Christ and was saved
• I was favored in planting a church that actually grew from zero to averaging 140
• I was favored by having great friends in the ministry (Dave Brown among them)
• I was favored I was favored in being given a great building in Astoria
• I was favored in being asked to be the Executive VP at PCBBC and then HBBC
• I was favored when I asked God, He called me to this church
• I was favored with sons who love the Lord
• I was favored with daughters in law for my sons who also love the Lord and support their husbands

I am not saying that everything that has happened to me in my life was easy, painless and carefree.

Nor am I saying that there aren’t some things I wished had turned out a bit different

I am not saying that I am perfect.

I just mean that I am thankful to the Lord that He has been kind to me.

The reason why all of this is important to this message is because I imagine that most of us read Psalm 33:12 and interpret it that way,

Blessed, uniquely favored by God, is the nation whose God is the Lord….

And our interpretation would be incorrect.

This is the word that is defined “happy”.

Notice that it is not

• Blessed is the person whose God is the Lord or
• Blessed is the individual whose God is the Lord

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord

We are created to be a united people.

We do best when we are in a body, when we belong to a unit.

When you think about a nation, you think about a government, don’t you?

I want to propose to you that there have been three nations that have been uniquely set aside as God’s:

• Israel
• England
• USA

I realize, by the way, that when this message gets out on our Youtube channel, there are going to be a LOT of people who take great offense to that statement.

Some people will not get passed the fact that I grouped England and the USA with Israel. 

They will accuse me of “replacement theology” and say I am anti Semitic.

Others will be offended that I was suggest that God favors anyone over another.

• They get offended that we claim that those who do not trust Christ as Saviour will go to hell.
• They get offended that would suggest that any group of people could be judged by God

I think Donald Trump would fit real well with them, they don’t think its fair that God is not fair.

They think everyone ought to be able to believe what they want to believe and behave how they want to behave and that God has no right judging one’s beliefs and behavior.

I. ISRAEL

Deuteronomy 7:6-8 (KJV)

For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:

But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

I want to confess two things right now:

• Israel is a uniquely, much more than any other nation, the nation whose God is the Lord.
• By addressing England and USA as nations whose God is the Lord, I approach a heresy which replaces Israel with believing Gentiles

Israel has a unique relationship with God because He chose them as a nation and because He promised to love them unconditionally and eternally.

That is not true of any other nation.

While it is true that God has set Israel aside right now, it is also true that God is going to return His attention on them in the future.

• He has never forgotten His promise to Israel
• He has never stopped loving Israel
• He has never waiver in His plan for Israel

Speaking of the nation of Israel God says,

Romans 11:15 (KJV)

For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?

When Israel rejected Jesus, God cast them away. He cut them off and grafted in a new thing, the church composed of Jews and Gentiles who have trusted Christ as Saviour.

But God makes a promise to Israel that He makes to no other nation on this planet as we think of nations; He promises to graft them back in.

• Babylon will be cast away forever
• Persia will be cast away forever
• Greece will be cast away forever
• Rome will be cast away forever
• Russia will be cast away forever
• Germany will be cast away forever
• England will be cast away forever
• USA will be cast away forever
• Etc

Not so Israel.

They have been favored, and they have been blessed and happy because of it.

• They happily gave to us the Word of God
• They happily enjoyed the leadership of Moses and Joshua and David
• They happily sang the songs of Zion
• They happily met with God in the Tabernacle and Temple

I do not mean to say that everyone was happy

And they were not flippantly happy all the time.

But as a nation they had reason to rejoice.

I cautiously come to the second nation

II. ENGLAND

There is no verse to prove that England’s God was the Lord.

I can only comment historically

• England received the gospel very early in their history
• England translated the Bible into their own language very early in history and
• England had kings who understood they were in many ways servants to their citizens very early in their history

I spent a great deal of time on this last year so I do not want to do that now, but English people considered themselves free men.

And there is a certain joy that enjoyed only in liberty.

I do not want to imply that everyone in England was happy or that their government was a godly one – far from it.

But there was always a seed of truth in England that did not exist anywhere else.

That seed demonstrated itself, I think, in the results of revival during the 18^th century. England turned to God under the preaching of the Gospel. France, by contrast, turned to rationalism and then to bloody violence.

England only had the seed of truth and they soon expelled that seed, which landed on this continent and eventually became,

III. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Unlike some, I do not believe America was ever 

• Godly and 
• Pure and 
• Good

Your Baptist forefathers and mine were persecuted heavily right here all the way through 

• The Revolutionary War 
• The writing of the Constitution and until 
• The Bill of Rights was ratified

But while I would not go so far as to say our country was godly back then, I would say that our founders were men who sought God as best as they knew and through a search of the Bible.

The most commonly quoted reference in the work on the Constitution was the Bible.

Our country may not have been godly, but God was using those men.

The result was a nation that was blessed.

A handful of scrabble soldiers:

• Barely clothed
• Poorly fed and
• Nearly unarmed

Happily defeated the most powerful military of their day.

Our country began 

• In debt
• Fragmented and
• Alone in the world – no other nation was remotely like her

But in just a few very short years she was considered one of the most powerful nations in the world.

Please remember that: 

• I did not say that any of these nations were always happy
• Nor did I say that everyone in their nation was ever happy and
• Neither did I say that there were never circumstances that were unhappy

What I mean to say is that there was a general trend of happiness.

The same thing is true of my own life.

I cannot say that everything that has happened to me and my family after I got saved has been 

• Good, 
• Easy and
• Pleasant

The fact has been that we have lived a life filled with 

• Heartache, 
• Pain, 
• Persecution and 
• Trouble 

because we are Christians and because, with His grace, we have obeyed the Lord’s leading.

As a pastor, trouble, persecution and heartache is the norm. something doesn’t feel right without it.

But while that is true

It is also true that I can’t imagine being happier.

And all I have to do is look at my siblings to know that there would have been NO happiness if I had not gotten saved and followed the Lord.

• Israel had troubles, but as long as God was their Lord they were happy.
• England had troubles, but while England heard from God they were happy
• America had troubles, but so long as America sought God she was happy

The problem is that in every case they turned their back on the Lord.

• Israel crucified Jesus
• England gave herself over to reprobates and now
• America has rejected God in favor of wicked idolators

All of this seems a little dismal but rejoice!

There is one nation, different than any of the others, of whom it can truly be said, “whose God is the Lord.”

IV. AN HOLY NATION

1 Peter 2:9 (KJV)

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

There are a lot of different terms that we use to describe corporate Christianity; Christians as a whole:

Church, is mostly incorrectly used to describe the unity that exists between all Christians

Also incorrectly used are the terms:

• Body
• Bride
• Building

These terms do describe an assembled and unified collection of Christians; but they describe accurately describe a limited number of them in a single location.

• Sometimes we use the term “Kingdom of God” 

to refer to all believers of all time.

• Sometimes we use the term “family of God”

Notice the terms that Peter gives us in this verse:

• A chosen generation
• A royal priesthood
• A peculiar people

And the one I am interested in for this message, 

• an holy nation.

This book, according to its very first verse, is a addressed, 

1 Peter 1:1 (KJV)

… to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

He is speaking to Christians and he says in this first verse that

They were strangers

They don’t fit anywhere. No place feels like home to them. No one in this world makes them feel welcome.

• The culture
• The worldview
• The purpose for living

Was so different for these Christians that it would not have matters where in the world they lived, they would have felt strange there.

They were scattered

Because they did not feel at home anywhere, and because no one anywhere wanted them there, they ended up scattered farther and farther into the regions beyond.

No doubt this refers primarily to the persecution of the believers in Jerusalem as described back in Acts 8.

Jerusalem wasn’t the only place they were run out of.

Paul was run out of: 

• Damascus
• Jerusalem
• Thessalonica
• Berea
• Philippi and
• Ephesus

They were strangers and they were scattered but Peter reminded them that they were much more:

• They were chosen
• They were royal
• They were holy and
• They were peculiar to God

The Greek work for nation is “ethnos”.

It is used to describe:

• The human family or
• A people group

It also speaks of a multitude of people associated or living together.

But the definition that intrigues me the most is, individuals of the same nature.

That is a perfect description of all Christians of all times in all places.

We all possess the new nature given to us in Christ.

It is an holy nation in that

It belongs to God

It is an holy nation in that

It is separate from everything in this world

It is an holy nation

It is consecrated for God

And it is a blessed nation

The joy of the Lord is our strength. 

• He indwells us, 
• He goes before us
• He comes behind and protects us

• When we wake up in the morning we are aware the He watched over us through the night.
• When we go through trials and troubles He promises to go with us
• As we go about our activities we know He enables us and helps us

• There is no enemy He cannot conquer
• There is no danger He cannot overcome
• There is no fear He cannot replace with love

• Life has meaning
• Trouble has purpose
• Death has no power

Those of this nation are truly blessed indeed.

Conclusion

Do you know that you are a citizen of this holy and blessed nation?

The qualifications have nothing to do with: 

• race, 
• class or 
• background

• Your parents can’t gain you access
• Your place of birth has no bearing

Citizenship belongs to those who have personally

• Realized their sinful condition
• Recognized the eternal consequence of sin
• Relied on the gospel of Jesus Christ to save them and have
• Received the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ